ABVP sacks two members held for violence

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Wednesday suspended two of its activists after the police caught them while assaulting two members of All India Students Association (AISA) on Tuesday evening.

Also on Wednesday, the students’ wing of the BJP  held a demonstration over the “delay” in filing charge sheets against Jawaharlal Nehru University students arrested on sedition charges last year. ABVP has decided to hold an “internal inquiry” into the involvement of their members in the Tuesday evening attack.

The suspended ABVP members, Prashant Mishra and Vinayak Sharma, had attacked AISA activists Aman Kumar and Utkarsh Bhardwaj near SGTB Khalsa College while they were returning after taking part in a protest organised by Left-backed student unions.

Police caught both Prashant and Vinayak after the incident. However, their accomplices managed to escape. “There were seven-eight boys led by Prashant Mishra who attacked us near Khalsa College red light. They beat me up and tried to strangulate me,” Aman said in his compliant to the police.

His complaint said they also tried to throttle another man Raj Singh with their hands and a belt. “They also hit Utkarsh. Police personnel caught two of them and brought them to the Maurice (Nagar) police station,” it said. ABVP media convenor Saket Bahuguna condemned the incident and said both Prashant and Vinayak were suspended from the primary membership of the organisation for thrashing AISA members.

“An internal inquiry will also be conducted into the episode and further action will be taken. We are committed to ensure a violence-free atmosphere on the campus,” he said.

The ABVP activists later held a protest outside Delhi Police headquarters and demanded filing of chargesheet against JNU students Umar Khalid and others who were booked for sedition last year. They had allegedly raised anti-India slogans at an event organised on the campus in the memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

“We demand that all those who raised such anti-India slogans in the JNU should be prosecuted as soon as possible. It has been one year since the case was lodged against them and no action has been taken by the police so far,” the ABVP said.